SANTO DOMINGO (AP) – The Dominican Republic is rejecting a decision by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that found the Caribbean country discriminated against Dominicans of Haitian descent.
The government called the decision “unacceptable” and “biased” in a statement issued Friday.
A Dominican court ruled last year that people born in the Dominican Republic to migrants living there illegally were not automatically entitled to citizenship, basically rendering thousands of people stateless. The government since then has pledged to resolve their status but has only offered residency and work permits under a new programme.
The Inter-American Court gave the Dominican government six months to invalidate the ruling.
A UN study has estimated there about 500 000 undocumented migrants in the Dominican Republic, nearly 90 per cent of Haitian descent.
